HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 275 trade. In this he continued until 1877, when admonished by advancing years and failing vigor, that it was time for him to retire from active work. Dr. Watson was married in 1824 to Mary Ann Walton, of Columbiana Co., Ohio. The couple are enjoying life's peaceful evening together—the only remaining link in the county connecting the old-time practitioners with the present. Beriah Brooks, John Shaw and Josiah Gale were physicians who located in Kendall between 1820 and 1825. Brooks moved over to Massillon as soon as it was started, and died there in 1831. Gale abandoned practice for a contract on the canal, and Shaw, after remaining several years, left for parts unknown. Thomas and John Townsend, brothers, removed from Wooster to Massillon about the year 1828, and set up in practice together. They remained a few years, when Thomas vent to Wheeling, Va., where he died. The last known of John he had drifted to California. Robert Estep was born in Fayette Co., Penn., in 1793 ; served an apprenticeship at the trade of silversmith ; pursued that calling several years, when he concluded to study medicine. After reading eighteen months, he commenced practice in Paris, Stark Co., in 1824. He soon acquired a wide-spread reputation, not only as a skilful practitioner, but as a surgeon of more than ordinary ability. Twice he performed the Caesarean section, the only physician of the county that ever attempted it. He several times operated for cataract and cut for stone. In 1834, he removed to Canton, where lie enjoyed an extensive practice until his death in 1852, at the age of fifty-nine. The honorary degree of M. D. was conferred upon him by the Ohio Medical College, in 1835. Joseph H. Estep, son of Robert Estep, was born in 1819. He followed painting until twenty-three, when he took up the study of medicine. He read with his father, and graduated at the Cleveland Medical College in 1847. He commenced practice at Waynesburg, and soon succeeded in obtaining a profitable run of custom. When the California gold excitement overspread the land, he yielded to the temptation and went there. He remained there several years, during which time he was elected a member of the first Legislature. On his return in 1852, he settled in Canton. Here he continued in practice until failing health induced him to return to California in 1873. He died in 1876. Dr. Estep was twice married. His first wife was Miss Polley, by whom he had three children. His second wife was Miss Rank ; by her he had no issue. He was a man of considerable natural talent, an original genius, a ready, forcible writer, not much of a student, but extravagantly fond of light literature, and inclined to take the world easy. Perkins Wallace was born in Trumbull County, Ohio, in 1808. Studied medicine with Dr. Thomas Bonfield, Canton, and graduated at the Ohio Medical College, Cincinnati, in 1833. He commenced the practice of medicine at Brandywine Mills, Summit Co.; from thence he removed to Akron, where he remained about two years, when he again changed his location to Massillon. Here he continued until 1850, doing an extensive practice. Considerations outside of professional, influenced him to remove to Canton, where he remained until his death in 1868, aged sixty. Dr. Wallace was married in 1835 to Rebecca Raynolds, by whom he had six children. Lorenzo M. Whiting was born in Litchfield County, Conn., in 1811. Received his medical degree at Williams College in 1835, and located in Canton in 1836. Dr. Whiting has continued longer in practice at the one place than any physician who has ever lived in Stark County. He has always been held in high esteem, not only as a practitioner of medicine, but as a general scholar, versed in literature and the sciences. His consultation calls have exceeded those of any other practitioner, a proof of his standing with the community. He was appointed a Trustee of the Northern Ohio Lunatic Asylum, by Gov. Chase, in 1856. During the rebellion, he was appointed by Gov. Denison one of the Board of Examiners of Surgeons to Ohio regiments, also Examining Surgeon for Stark County and for the Board of Enrolment for the Seventeenth Congressional District of Ohio, which position he held until the close of the war. He was Pension Surgeon from 1862 until October, 1880, when, by reason of ill health, he resigned. He was likewise Censor of Cleveland Medical College. In all these varied positions he discharged the duties devolving upon him with entire satisfaction to all parties concerned. The Doctor was struck with paralysis in the summer of 1880, since which time, he has been unable to practice. 276 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY. Auren W. Whiting was born in Connecticut in 1826. Educated in the High School of Westfield, Mass. Read medicine with Dr. W. B. De Forest, Colebrook, Conn., and in 1846 matriculated at the Medical Department of Yale College. After one course of lectures, he came to Canton, and engaged with his brother L. M., continuing the study, and gradually taking up practice. He attended a second course of lectures at Cleveland, graduating in 1850. He located first in Massillon, where he remained until 1858 ; then spent about eighteen months in Europe, visiting the hospitals of Paris and other large cities. Soon after his return from Europe, he was elected Assistant Physician of the Northern Ohio Lunatic Asylum, which position he held several years. During the rebellion, he was a contract surgeon, doing duty in the field hospitals near Georgetown. At the close of the war, he settled in Canton, where he has since remained, making a specialty of chronic diseases. Carl F. Brackebush was born and educated' in Germany. He came to this country in 1835, and first settled in Osnaburg, but remained there but a short time, when he removed to Canton. He was considered well educated in his profession, and had an extensive practice. He died in 1849, of neuralgia of the heart, caused by exposure in professional labor. F. D. H. Dallwick was born in Cassel, Germany, in 1814, and received his medical education in that country. He came to Stark County in 1833, first settling in Greentown. From there he removed to Canton, where he remained some years. He was the first physician appointed to the County Infirmary. From Canton he removed to Canal Fulton, where he died in 1849. His wife was Louisa, daughter of Christian Palmer, a pioneer settler. Joseph H. Mathews was born in England. He studied medicine with Dr. Robert Estep, and received his degree from the Cleveland Medical College. He commenced practice as a partner of his preceptor, and on his decease was associated for some years with Dr. Wallace. On their dissolution, Dr. Mathews continued practice until within a year, accumulating considerable property. He is now connected with the Diebold Safe & Lock Company. His wife, now deceased, was Mary A. Shorb, daughter of John Shorb. Barak Michener was born 1779, in Chester County, Penn. His grandparents came over with William Penn. His educational opportunities in his youth were extremely meager, but he was a young man of good natural ability and indomitable energy, by reason of which, he became a man of very considerable learning. While yet a boy, his father removed to Jefferson County, Ohio, and when about eighteen years of age, he started out for himself, coming to Lawrence Township, Stark County, where he had relatives living. Working here a short time, he engaged in teaching near Kendall. About 1825, he commenced teaching in Canton, and it was while engaged in this pursuit, that he conceived the idea of studying. medicine. He read with Dr. Gardner, and commenced practice with him, never having attended lectures. He removed to Massillon in 1834, and for several years was associated in practice with Dr. Watson. It was about this time that Miatic cholera made its appearance as an epidemic in the neighborhood, carrying off more people than has any epidemic in the same length of time, before or since. In the treatment of this disease, Dr. Michener had an-extensive experience, and his success was above the average. He was an original thinker, and not a routine prescriber. In 1839, he removed on to a farm near West Brookfield, continuing to practice until 1849, when he went west to Freeport, Ill., where he remained until 1853, when he again emigrated west, purchasing land near Adel, Dallas Co., Iowa. He had relinquished practice, and was living upon and improving this land when he died _March 10, 1878. A son of the Doctor is a physician, was engaged in practice in Adel, but removed to Dallas, Tex., and is now a planter. John Schertzer was born 1799, in Franklin County, Penn. The education of the Doctor, owing to the limited facilities of the time and his place of residence, was not very extended. He began the study of medicine when about eighteen years of age, with Dr. Jacob Grubb, of Lebanon County, Penn., and obtained his degree of Doctor of Medicine from Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. After practicing at several places in the counties of Lebanon and Franklin, he removed to Massillon, Stark Co., in 1835, where he continued practice until appointed Postmaster by President Lincoln, which office he held nine years. He was elected State Senator in 1850, serving one term. He died in 1880. HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 277 Jeremiah V. Schertzer was born in Pennsylvania, 1821, had a common-school education, and read medicine with his father. He attended lectures at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, and began practice with his father in 1844. He is still a resident of Massillon, and engaged in medical practice. Dr. Schertzer was married in 1848 to Mary Ellen Ogden, daughter of Hugh Ogden, of Massillon. Daniel L. Gans was born in Fayette County, Penn., 1819. At an early age, he manifested a taste for reading, and a preference for the study and practice of medicine. At eighteen, he engaged with an older brother, a practicing physician of Moundville, Va., and with him, he remained as a student two years, completing his medical course in the Ohio Medical College, Cincinnati. He commenced practice in Smithfield, Penn., three miles from his birthplace, and continued there about eighteen months, then removed to Magnolia, Tuscarawas County, Ohio. He lived here eight years, and during this time, purchased a large farm in Pike ToWnship, near Sparta. Upon this he removed in 1850, and has lived here ever since, devoting his leisure from practice to overseeing his farm, and giving attention to breeding fine stock, particularly sheep and cattle. Dr: Gans was married in 1845, to Margaret Hanna, of Steubenville. They have four children—two sons and two daughters. J. P. Barrick was born in 1818, in Morgantown, Rockingham Co., Va. His father was a farmer, and before this son was grown, he removed to Columbiana Co., Ohio. His opportunities for acquiring an education in early life were quite limited. He married young, and at the time of his marriage was in the employ of James Farmer, merchant, of Salineville. Soon after, he went to Cleveland and engaged with Dr. Henry Everett, with whom he studied medicine. He located in the practice at Massillon in 1842, and continued in the profession until his death in 1879. He received the honorary degree of M. D. from the Cleveland Medical College in 1866. Dr. Barrick was married the second time to Mrs. Clarissa A. Baldwin, of Massillon. He served a number of years in the City Council. and in the Board of Education, of which he was a member at the time of his death. He was of a social disposition and popular with the people. Frederick T. Hurxthal was born in Baltimore, Md., in 1814. His father was a merchant. His early education was such as the local schools afforded opportunity to acquire. He read medicine under Dr. Willard Parker, of New York City, and graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, in 1845. He began practice in Magnolia, Tuscarawas Co., and continued in that place until 1847, when he removed to Massillon. Dr. Hurxthal served in the army during the late war as Surgeon of the Nineteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. His death, which occurred under specially sad circumstances, was the result of an injury received by a fall on the platform at the railroad station in Canton, Feb. 3, 1865. Dr. H. was a live member of the profession—a close student, always abreast of the improvements of the day, and a frequent contributor to the journals. Abraham Metz was born in Stark County in 1828. His father was a pioneer settler of 1807. He was educated in the common schools, in which he taught when a mere lad. He began the study of medicine with Dr. Kahlor, in Columbiana County, and attended a course of lectures at Willoughby Medical College. The summer following, he enlisted in the Mexican war, Third Qhio Regiment, and was appointed Hospital Steward, much of the time doing the work of an Assistant Surgeon. After his return from Mexico, he resumed his medical studies, and graduated at Cleveland Medical College in 1848. He commenced practice at North Georgetown, Columbiana County, remaining there about a year, then went West. settling at Big Lick, Hancock Co., Ohio. From here he went into Seneca County, where he continued until 1854, when he changed his location to Massillon. He soon after made a specialty of diseases of the eye, and became widely known as a successful practitioner in that line. He also gave attention to general surgery, and was recognized as a skillful operator. Under the disadvantages of a country location, he kept abreast of the rapid growth of his specialty. He was one of the founders of Charity Hospital Medical College (now the Medical Department of Wooster University) at Cleveland, of which institution he was one of the original Faculty, occupying the chair of Ophthalmology, which place he filled at the time of his death, February 1, 1876. He was Surgeon of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & 278 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY. Chicago Railway, and was frequently sent beyond his district when accidents occurred involving serious or important surgical operations. Dr. Metz was emphatically a self-made man. With very limited educational advantages, he made himself master not only of our own language. but acquired such a knowledge of the German and French as enabled him to read without difficulty their publications. By his indomitable energy he overcame obstacles presented in his researches, that would have appalled most young men. He is the author of a work entitled Histology of the Eye," now used as a text-book in many of our medical colleges ; has also contributed many articles to the journals of the day. Dr. Metz was a genial companion, inclined to make the most of what this life afforded, and long will be remembered for his many excellent traits of character. He was married in 1849 to Elizabeth Patterson, of Columbiana County, by whom he had one child, a daughter—both still living. Hermann J. Uhl, was born in Saxony, 1823. Read medicine with his father and obtained his degree at a medical school in Dresden, 1846. He was associated in practice with his father until 1848, when he came to America and located in Bethlehem, Stark County. Here he remained until 1853, when he removed to Bolivar. where he continued about three years, during which time he was physician to the " Zoar Community." From 1856 to 1858, he was a resident of Dunleith, Ill., from there he returned and settled in Massillon ; here he remained about seven years, when the desire for change prompted him to locate in Navarre. In the spring of 1877, he made a trip to Europe, and while at the home of his youth was taken sick and died December 20, of the same year. Though somewhat eccentric and subject to fitful moods, the doctor was always considered a good physician. G. Kersey Thomas was born in York County, Penn., 1818, of Quaker parents. He came to Salem, Ohio, when quite young, and at the age of eighteen began the study of medicine with Dr. Benjamin Stanton. At the age of twenty-two, he married Rebecca Shaw and settled in Marlboro and commenced practice. His wife died in 1849, and in 1852 he married Eliza L. Smyth, a teacher in the Marlboro Union School. In 1856, he went to Philadelphia where he spent over a year pursuing his medical studies, and in 1857 he settled in Alliance. In 1862, he was appointed Surgeon of the One Hundred and Fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, but his health soon failed, and in December of the same year, he was prostrated with paralysis, resigned his commission and was brought home on a lounge. In 1864, his second wife died, and in 1868 he married Mrs. Rosanna Milner. He died March 10, 1869, of congestion of the brain. Dr. Thomas was considered a man of more than ordinary ability. In practice, his taste was in favor of surgery. At the time of his death, he was Surgeon of the two railroads passing through Alliance. Levi Haldeman, born in Columbiana County ; read medicine with Drs. Robertson & Carey, of Hanoverton, same county, attended lectures at Louisville, Ky., and commenced practice in Minerva, Stark County, in 1839. He did an extensive business up to 1860, when he left the profession to engage in oil speculation, in which he has accumulated several large fortunes. He is the only physician of the county, who has ever had a case of well-marked, unmistakable hydrophobia. The case was that of Andrew Shultz, bit by a small dog, who in three weeks after, manifested symptoms of hydrophobia, terminating fatally in three days. Francis Joseph Wernet, born in Baden, Germany, 1812 ; studied medicine in Basle, and graduated at Freyburg ; came to America in 1842 ; settled first in Pittsburgh, but the health of his wife becoming impaired as was supposed from local causes, he removed to Canton the next year, and there remained in practice until his death in 1862. He had five children. Mrs. Wernet died in 1881. William J. Parker was born in Jefferson County, Ohio, 1812 ; his parents came from North Carolina. He commenced the study of medicine with his uncle, Dr. Parker, of Belmont County, Ohio, at twenty years of age, and set up in practice when twenty-five, at Salineville in company with Dr. Farmer. He remained here four years, and then after having resided and practiced in Fairfield, Columbiana and New Lisbon, all in the same county until 1866, he removed to Alliance where lie remained until his death in 1880. J. L. Leeper was born in Norfolk, Va., 1818 ; educated at Cannonsburg, Penn., and studied medicine in Brooke County, West Va. He came to Navarre in 1847, and continued there in HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 279 active practice until 1867, when he removed on to his farm in Perry Township where he still resides. Dr. Leeper is a clever, social gentleman and popular with his neighbors. William Neely was born in Jefferson County, 1819. He studied medicine with Dr. Thomas Wood (late of Cincinnati), and was associated with him in practice for a time. In 1843, he settled in New Franklin, Paris Township, since which time, he has continued in practice in different localities in the eastern portion of the county, Alliance and Mount Union. Charles Kay was born in New Jersey ; read medicine in Warren County, Ohio ; settled in East Fairfield, where he practiced over thirty years. In 1849, he received the honorary degree of medicine, and in 1869, removed to Anlli¬ance, where he has since resided, engaged in active practice. David A. Arter was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, in 1820. His early education was what the common and select schools of that day afforded. He read medicine with Drs. Robertson and Cary, of Hanoverton, who had in their day a wide-spread reputation and did an extensive practice. He graduated at the Miami Medical College, Cincinnati, in 1845, and soon after located in East Fairfield, Columbiana Co. From thence he removed to Carrollton, where he remained a number of years, and in 1865, he removed to Canton. He has been in active practice some thirty-six years. He was married in 1844 to Almyra Ferrol, by whom he had four children: She died in 1859, and he married Sarah M. McCall, of Harrison County. Dr. Arter was commissioned by Gov. Tod, Captain of Cavalry, during the rebellion, and for two years served as Deputy Revenue Collector. The Doctor has been more successful than most of the brethren in collecting and saving his earnings, as he is now in very comfortable circumstances. John B. Wilson was born in Mahoning County, Ohio, in 1828. He read medicine with Dr. John Dickson, Pittsburgh, Penn., and attended lectures in Cleveland in 1846--47. Commenced practice in Austintown, Mahoning County, remaining there but a short time, and came to Alliance in 1849, where he has .practiced ever since—being the oldest practitioner in the town. He attended a second course of lectures at Cleveland in the winter of 1853-54, graduating in the spring. Lewis Slusser, born in Canton in 1820 ; educated at home schools and Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, the latter of which he was compelled to leave while in the Junior year, by reason of pulmonary trouble. For this, he sought a warmer climate, and while in Georgia teaching, he commenced the study of medicine, reciting regularly to a preceptor. He attended a first course of lectures, at the National Medical College, Washington City, in 1845-46. The second, at the Ohio Medical College, Cincinnati, graduating March, 1849. The interim between lectures, nearly three years, he was with Dr. Haldeman, of Minerva, practicing under instructions. Soon after graduating, he located in Canal Fulton, where he remained in practice until the war of the rebellion, when he entered the service as Surgeon of the Sixty-ninth Ohio. While in the army, he served on post, field and staff duty. He was on the operating corps, in all the prominent engagements of the Army of the Cumberland and the Army of Georgia, and after the arrival of Sherman's army at Savannah, he was assigned in charge of an ocean hospital transport, engaged in conveying sick and wounded to Northern hospitals. Immediately after being mustered out with his regiment, he was re-commissioned Surgeon of the Twenty-sixth Ohio, ordered to New Orleans, and thence to Texas, where he served until mustered out with the last remnant of the army, November, 1865. On his return from the army, he settled in Canton, where he has since remained. Dr. Slusser was twice elected to represent Stark County in the State Legislature, serving from 1858 to 1861. He was appointed Superintendent of the Insane Hospital at Newburg, which position he held from 1874 to 1876. Was Surgeon ten years of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway. Has frequently written for the medical journals, and, of late years, has taken quite an interest in the early history of Stark County, collecting and recording events for preservation. He has been twice married. His first wife was Sarah C. Pearce, daughter of Dr. Joseph Pearce, of Huron, Ohio. She died while with him in the army, in 1863. His present wife is Helena A., daughter of C. F. Ricks, of Massillon. The first physician to locate in Canal Fulton was William Myers. He read with Dr. Gardner, of Canton. Dr. Myers was in Fulton but a short time when he changed his residence to 280 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY. Sandyville. Here he died of consumption. The next in Lawrence Township, was Dr. S. Dolbear, and following him Alexander Porter. We have been unable to procure any definite information in regard to the early history of these men. Henry Houtz was born in Pennsylvania, and came to Ohio with his father, who was a pioneer settler of Wayne County. The subject of our sketch, after completing his school studies, engaged for a time in teaching, and then commenced the study of medicine with Dr. L. G. Harley, of Dalton. Completing the preliminary course, he attended lectures, and graduated at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, and commenced practice in Canal Fulton about 1838. He remained here until 1849, when he sold out and removed to Cleveland, where he is still living. Abram Houtz read medicine with his brother Henry. Graduated at Jefferson Medical College, and commenced practice in Seville, Medina County. Removed to Canal Fulton in 1849, and continued there in practice until his death in 1880. Lucius Howard practiced medicine in Fulton about ten years, then removed to Keene, Coshocton County, where he was killed by his brother-in-law. Jacob Musser, a student of Dr. Dallwick, practiced in Fulton some six years, and died there in 1854. Harry M. McAbee was located several years in Canton as a practitioner, but abandoned the profession for that of the ministry, in which he was engaged when the civil war broke out. He entered the army as Surgeon of the Fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, resigned his commission in 1863, and engaged with the establishment of C. Aultman & Co. as a traveling agent, and was in their employ when he was killed in a railroad collision on the Lake Shore Road at the age of thirty-seven. He was a man of considerable ability, well posted in medical literature, and an acceptable preacher. J. E. Dougherty was born in Beaver County, Penn., in 1820 ; read medicine with Dr. E. M. Pyle, Richmond, Jefferson County, Ohio ; practiced five years in Pennsylvania, and for thirty-two years in Greentown. He was married, in 1844, to Phoebe Thompson, of Carroll County, Ohio, who died in 1847. He was married again, in 1849, to Angeline Gorgas. Dr. Dougherty was Lieutenant Colonel of the One Hundred and Sixty-second Ohio National Guard, and was four months in the service. He is still in active practice, with a fair prospect of continuing yet many years. He stands well as a Man and practitioner. L. E. Dougherty was. born in Greentown in 1853 ; read medicine with his father, Dr. J. E. Dougherty, and graduated at Columbus Medical College in 1879. He married, the same year, Clara Hart, of Summit County, and has since been practicing in company with his father. Levi L. Lamborn was born in Chester County, Penn., in 1829, and came to Ohio when eight years of age. He read medicine with Dr. Soloman Shrieve, of Damascus. He attended lectures in Philadelphia and Cleveland, graduating at the latter place in 1849 ; commenced practice in Mount Union, where he remained fifteen years ; removed to Alliance in 1863, where he continued practice until 1866, then retired from the profession, and engaged in banking and speculating in real estate. Dr. L. was nominated a candidate for Representative to the Legislature—session 1858-59. He was elected Clerk' of that body—session 1860-61; was a candidate for Senator in 1874, and, in 1876, for Congress. During the administration of Gov. Bishop, he was a Trustee of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum. Dr. Lamborn is an effective public speaker. T. Clarke Miller was born in Butler County, Penn., in 1842. He began the study of medicine in 1861 ; but soon after enlisted as a private soldier, and served as such during the first three years of the war, in Company F, Ninth Pennsylvania Reserve Corps, with the " Army of the Potomac." After his discharge, he continued the study of medicine with Dr. M. L. Miller, of Blairsville, Penn. In 1865, he attended lectures in Charity Hospital Medical College at Cleveland, afterward continuing his studies with Dr. W. J. Scott, of Cleveland. He received his degree from Charity Hospital Medi- cal College in 1867, after which, he continued practical study as House Surgeon in St. Vincent's Hospital for one year ; located first in Newburgh, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, where he remained about two years, then removed to Cleveland, and practiced there until 1876, when he changed his location to Massillon. While in Cleveland, he was a member of the visiting HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 281 staff of St. Vincent's Hospital, and served two terms as Coroner of Cuyahoga County, an important and responsible position. He was a member of the Board of Examining Surgeons for Pensions. He was elected, in 1873, to the chair of obstetrics in the Medical Department of Wooster University at Cleveland, which place he still occupies. He is the United States Examining Surgeon for Pensions at Massillon. Dr. Miller was married, in 1869, to Mary A. Culbertson, of Blairsville, Penn. Albert W. Ridenour was born in Washington County, Md., in 1843. At about ten years of age, he removed with his father's family to Ohio. His early education was in the common and academic schools. He began the study of medicine in 1860, with his brother, Dr. W. T. Ridenour, of Smithville, Wayne Co., Ohio. He attended lectures at Charity Hospital Medical College, Cleveland, in 1866, and the year following at the Ohio Medical College, Cincinnati, from which institution he received his degree. He began practice in Denmark,. Morrow Co., Ohio, in 1868. After one year, he removed to Wadsworth, Medina County, and, after remaining at this place a few months, he located in Canal Fulton, where he remained about two and a half years ; then, in 1871, located in Massillon, where he has since remained. Dr. Ridenour served in the late war as musician and Hospital Steward. He was married, in 1869, to Emma F. Miller, daughter of Abram Miller, of Canal Fulton. He is now Railroad Surgeon, and, for a number of years, has been Health Officer of Massillon. Lehman Danziger was born in Germany, 1805. After graduating at the high school in Holzminden, Herzogthum Braunschweig, he entered the University of Goettingen, and completed a medical course which required five years. Soon after graduating he entered the service of the Russian government as a military physician. At the expiration of three years he resigned his commission and located in Bremen. At the age of forty, he came to America and for three years practiced in New Oxford, Adams County, Penn., thence to Canton, where he has since remained. Dr. Danziger is at present the oldest practicing physician in the county, being now in his seventy-seventh year—over fifty years in practice, and yet able and willing to attend a call any hour of the night.  Thomas H. Phillips was born in Washington County, Penn., 1839. He was educated at Jefferson College and read medicine with Dr. George H. Cook, of Cannonsburg, Penn. He graduated at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, with the Class of 1864. Immediately after graduating, he was appointed Assistant Surgeon of the Seventy-ninth Pennsylvania Regiment, and remained with them in the field during their continuance in the service. At the close of the war he commenced the practice of medicine in Middletown, Penn., remained there several years, then changed his location to Canton, where he has since remained. Dr. Phillips was married in 1868 to Irene M. Lindsey, by whom he has one child, a daughter. Mrs. Phillips died in 1876 of phthisis. The Doctor has been Physician to the County Infirmary ; is now Surgeon of the Valley Railway. R. P. Johnson was born in Stark County, 1839. Read medicine with Dr. L. L. Lamborn, Alliance, and graduated at the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery, in 1861. Opened an office same spring in Mount Union. In September, 1862, entered the army as Assistant Surgeon One Hundred and Fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Remained less than a year and during that time was on hospital duty at Lexington, Ky. On leaving the army he settled in Deerfield, where he remained eighteen months. In 1864, he re-entered the army as Contract Surgeon, serving on post hospital duty at Springfield and Chicago. At the close of the war he settled in Alliance, where he practiced about ten years, then removed to Canton where he has since remained. He is at present Station Surgeon to the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway, and the Connotton Valley Railway, likewise to the County Jail. He was married in 1857 to Miss Marianna Hunt, by whom he has had four children, two still living. W. E. Rukenbrod is a native of Carroll County, born 1850. Commenced reading medicine with Dr. R. B. Rush, Salem, Ohio, in 1870, during which time he practiced two years under instructions. Graduated at the Pulte Medical College, Cincinnati, 1875, and afterward had charge of Dr. Rush's business six months, while he was on a trip to Europe. Settled in Canton in 1875, and has remained here since. Was married July, 1878, to Miss Kate Jackson, daughter of C. H. Jackson. 282 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY. E. O. Portman was born in Switzerland, and came to this country with his parents, who settled in Bethlehem Township. He read medicine with Dr. Metz, of Massillon, graduated at Cleveland, 1871, and immediately after located in Canton. Samuel A. Conklin, born 1841, in Washington County, Penn., commenced reading medicine in 1864 with Dr. John Kelly, of Claysville, Washington County, Penn., graduated in Cleveland, 1867, and settled in Belle Vernon, Penn., where he remained some six years, then removed to Canton, 1873. He was married in 1868 to Miss Laura Bughera, of Fayette County, Penn. Dr. Conklin was for several years Physician to the County Jail, and also to the County Infirmary, and is now a member of the Board of Education as well as the Health Board. James Fraunfelter was born in Ashland County, Ohio, 1846. He studied medicine with Dr. T. S. Hunter, of Ashland. Graduated in 1871, at Long Island College Hospital, and in 1872 at Jefferson College, Philadelphia. Commenced practice the same year in Canal Fulton, and continued there until the spring of 1881, when he removed to Canton. He married Miss Kate Roseberry, of Ashland. George B. Cock read medicine with Dr. Bowen, of Akron, and attended lectures at Cleveland, 1868. He has been settled in practice at several different places, but at the present is in Canton, and Coroner of the county. He was married in 1865 to Miss A. E. Greenwood, daughter of Judge Greenwood, of Paris. Of the physicians of Paris who came after Dr. Robert Estep left, was Dr. Charles Preston. He practiced there some years and died. Dr. James L. Beebout located there in 1844, and died in 1864. Dr. J. Beebout removed from Sandyville to Paris soon after the death of James L., and yet resides there. In addition to these, were Drs. Gugleman, Geiger, Gray, Baker, Barris, Bates and others. In Osnaburg, there are the two Drs. White-leather, both natives of the county and both graduates. Samuel Wolf was born in Osnaburg, Stark County, 1818. He studied medicine with Dr. George K. Pardee, of Wadsworth, Medina Co., and in 1843 attended a course of lectures at Cleveland Medical College. He commenced the practice of medicine in Osnaburg, but removed to Wilmot in 1846, where be has since remained. C. P. Wolf, son of Samuel, was born in Wilmot, 1849, studied with his father and graduated at Cleveland Medical College, 1874. He has since been in partnership with his father, and together they do an extensive practice. David Crise was born in Westmoreland County, Penn., in 1846.. He graduated at Jefferson Medical College in 1872, and located in Beach City in 1877. M. A. Robinett, born in Ohio in 1844, read medicine with Dr. Pomerean, of Millersburg. Graduated at Cleveland in 1869, and settled in Beach City in 1874. W. C. Putnam was born in Sugar Creek Township, Stark County, in 1852. He graduated at the Ohio Medical College in 1871, and after practicing a short time in Van Wert County, and in Brookfield, this county, located in Justus, near his old home. Mrs. Eliza L. Thomas, the first female physician located in Stark County, was born in Willoughby, Ohio. She commenced the study of medicine with her husband, Dr. Thomas, soon after their marriage, and graduated in Philadelphia during their residence in that city. On their return to Alliance, she engaged in general practice with her husband, and her success would compare favorably with the general run of male practitioners. Called to assist in the delivery of a dead foetus, she absorbed septic poison through an abrasion of the hand, contracted pyemia, and with which she died. She was highly esteemed by the community in which she lived, and her loss was much deplored. Mrs. Sarah C. Heaton was born in Lancaster County, Penn., in 1839. Her maiden name was Cooper, and she was reared a Quaker. She read medicine one year with Dr. P. L. Hatch, of Minneapolis, Minn., and one year under Dr. Mary E. Wilson, of Lancaster, Penn., graduating in 1875, at the " Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania." She married the following year Dr. J. G. Heaton, and the two immediately after established themselves, in Alliance, as practitioners of medicine. In the following June, the husband died, and Mrs. Heaton has continued in the business since, doing a respectable share thereof. It should have been mentioned that Dr. Heaton had been HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 283 located in Alliance about ten years previous to his marriage. Lybia Moulton was born in Portage County, Ohio, in 1837. Read medicine with Dr. Ward, of Suffield in 1858, and graduated at the University of Michigan in 1860. He has been in practice in Hartville eighteen years. Byron J. Douds was born in 1846 in Lake Township, Stark County. Enlisted at the age of fifteen in the Eighty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served with the regiment until expiration of term of enlistment. Re-enlisted in United States Navy, and while in that arm of the service, was chosen by the commanding officer for a special work requiring great phys- ical endurance, firmness and fidelity. After expiration of term of enlistment, pursued collegiate studies at Oberlin and Mount Union. Read medicine with Dr. L. M. Whiting, and took special course under Dr. J. H. Saulsbury, of Cleveland. Graduated in 1870, at Cleveland Medical Department University of Wooster, and commenced practice in Canton immediately after. He is at present Physician to Stark County Infirmary. Married in 1875 to Miss Ella Hilles, of Mount Union. Frank Pennock, born in Stark County in 1852, educated at the home schools, read medicine with Dr. J. H. Day, Limaville. Attended first course of lectures at Ann Arbor, Mich., and graduated at Cleveland in 1878. Formed a connection with Dr. Day, and continued with him until his death. Married in 1880 to Miss Isabella McCallum, of Stark County. James McConkey, born and educated in England, has been located in Mapleton about twenty years, and doing a respectable business. Allen W. Weidler was born in Lancaster County, Penn., and came to Stark County about 1848. He practiced for a number of years in New Berlin, but is now a resident of McDonaldsville, Jackson Township. He is the Paracelsus of Stark County. Has a number of specifics, among them, " A Sure Cure for the Typhoid Fever," the formula of which he offers to sell to the United States Government for " $25,000, not a cent less." A. P. L. Pease was born in Massillon in 1847, and is a son of Hon. Anson Pease. He was educated in the public schools, and began the study of medicine in 1868, in the office of the late Dr. Abraham Metz. In 1871, he graduated from the Medical Department of Woos- ter University, in Cleveland, and immediately began the practice of his profession in his native town. At the expiration of about a year, he removed to Pittsburgh, where he remained until October, 1875, at which time he returned to Massillon. He served in the army during the late war, as a private in the 100-days service. His marriage with Miss Anna Delia Gillespie, of Pittsburgh, was celebrated on the 18th day of September, 1877. William H. Kirkland is a native of Crawford Co., Ohio, where his birth occurred in 1840. His education was received at the common schools, and, in 1870, he began the study of homoeopathy in the office of Dr. W. A. Whippey, of Goshen, Ind. He attended lectures in the Cleveland Homoeopathic Hospital College during the session of 1872-73, and soon afterward established himself in practice at Canal Dover, Tuscarawas County. At the expiration of about nine months, he removed to Goshen Ind., where he continued the practice in conjunction with his former preceptor, Dr. Whippey, until January, 1875, when he returned to Massillon. In 1878, he again attended medical lectures, and finally graduated at the above-mentioned college. He was a private in Company K, Eighty-second Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, during the late war. In 1881, he was married to Miss Helen, daughter of James Neal, of Massillon. Everett H., son of Dr. J. P. Barrick, was born in Massillon in 1845. The public schools of his native town furnished his early education, but later he attended the Iron City College, of Pittsburgh. From 1865 to 1868, he was engaged in the drug business in Cleveland. a portion of the time with Vaupel & Moore, but at the latter date he began the study of medicine with Dr. Proctor Thayer, of the latter city. He attended lectures at the Cleveland Medical College, at which institution he graduated in the spring of 1872. He practiced his profession in Cleveland until 1875, when he removed to Massillon and associated himself with his father. In October, 1875, he was united in marriage with Miss Clara H., daughter of Horace G. Hitchcock, of Cleveland. Henry Clay Royer is a native of Steuben Co., N. Y., his birth occurring at Bath, in July, 1846. He began the study of homoeopathy in 1872, under Dr. Baxter, of Cleveland, and grad- uated at the Homeopathic College, of that city, 284 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY. in 1875. He began practicing at Seville, Ohio, the year before his graduation, and, when his college course was completed, returned to Seville, remaining there until 1876, when he removed to Massillon and formed a partnership with Dr. Kirkland. He was married in January, 1866, to Miss Lucy E., daughter of Jotham T. Williams, of New York State. Dr. Royer is at present a member of the Board of Health of Massillon. James F. Gardner was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, in 1836, and when three years of age was brought by his parents to Stark County, locating first at Canton, but, in 1840, removing to Bethlehem. He was educated mainly at Meadville, Penn., and at Mount Union College, Stark County, and, in 1855, began the study of medicine with Dr. J. D. Otis, of Navarre, but in 1857 went to Columbus, where his medical studies were continued under the supervision of Dr. J. D. Hamilton. He attended lectures at Columbus and Cleveland, and, in 1860, received his degree at the latter city. He practiced his profession three years at Canal Fulton, and then entered the army as Assistant Surgeon of the Tenth Ohio Cavalry, and, for a short time, did staff duty. After his return, he remained one year at Canal Fulton, and then, in 1866, removed to West Brookfield. He was married. June, 1866, to Miss Theresa, (laughter of Xavier Kern, of Tuscarawas Township. Thomas J. Reed, born July, 1838, is a native of Coshocton County, and began reading medicine with Dr. Carroll, of Keene, Ohio. In 1864, he took the degree of Doctor of Medicine from Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, and afterward took a special course in the "Lyingin-Hospital " of that city. During the late war, he served as Acting Assistant Surgeon ; and, in 1866, located at Massillon, where he has since practiced his profession. His wife, to whom he was married in 1869, was Miss Isabella Dickey, of Massillon. Dr. Reed has served a number of years as member of the Board of Health of Massillon. Simpson J. Harmount is a " Buckeye," his birth occurring at Lima, Allen County, in September, 1852. His general education was completed in 1873, by his graduation at the Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio. His study of medicine was begun in 1873, with Dr. Buell, of New Philadelphia ; but, after a short time, he removed to Massillon, and commenced studying under Dr. Metz. He attended lectures at Cleveland, and finally graduated in medicine at Cincinnati. He has since been located in Massillon, and has given his special attention to diseases of the eye. In October, 1880, he was united in marriage with Miss Emma T. Ruchti, of Cleveland. William H. Becher was born in Stark County in 1848. His education was such as could be obtained from the country schools. He commenced the study of medicine in 1865, graduating in 1869. He has a farm in Pike Township, upon which he resides, doing considerable country practice. He has been twice married. His post office address is North Industry, Stark Co., Ohio. John H. Tressel was born in Carroll County in 1833. He was educated at Mount Union College, graduating in 1860. He read medicine with Dr. S. F. Rukenbrod, of Malvern ; attended lectures at Cleveland Medical College, and received the degree of M. D. in 1863 ; commenced practice in Malvern, but removed to Alliance in 1873. He was appointed Railway Surgeon in 1876. Dr. T. married, in 1862, Miss Susannah T. Hawkins, of Mahoning County. George C. Welch was born in Harrison County, Ohio, in 1838 ; attended lectures at Cleveland, graduating in 1870 ; first commenced practice at Kilgore, Carroll County ; remained there one year, then removed to Carrollton, thence to Mechanicstown, where he remained thirteen years. In 1878, he located in Waynesburg. He is married to Abigail A. Hine, of Trumbull County. A. B. Walker was born in Jefferson County, Ohio ; attended medical lectures in Chicago, and graduated in Philadelphia in 1881. He is located in Canton. E. L. Walker was born in Knox County, Ohio ; attended first course of lectures at Ann Arbor, Mich., and graduated in Cleveland in 1869 ; practiced several years in Holmes County, and located in Canton in 1872. He is now Health Officer of the city. A. H. Gans is a native of Stark County ; was born in 1847. He studied medicine with Dr. D. L. Gans, of Sparta, and graduated at Cleveland in 1870. He commenced the practice of medicine in Navarre the same year, and has continued there since, steadily increasing in professional reputation and business.   HISTORY OF ST ARK COUNTY - 285 William P. Preston was born in Virginia, and came with his father's family in 1825, to Columbiana County. He read medicine with his brother, Dr. C. H. Preston, and began practice in 1839 at Malvern, Carroll County. He remained here but a short time, and removed to Bolivar, forming a partnership with Dr. Bennett. On the death of his brother, C. H., he moved to Paris, and continued there ten years ; then to Alliance, where he resided until 1857 ; then to Mendota, Ill., where he remained until 1868, when he returned to Alliance, his present residence. Dr. Preston obtained a diploma from a Cincinnati College. He was in the war of the rebellion as Contract Surgeon. He was married, in 1843, to Miss Cynthia E. Tinker, of Randolph, Portage County. Milton M. Catlin was born in New York State in 1846. After receiving a good education at the common schools and at West Greenfield Academy, he, in the fall of 1865, began studying medicine with Dr. Nathan Spencer, of Greenfield. In 1866-68, he attended lectures at the Homoeopathic Hospital College, Cleveland, receiving his diploma in February, 1868, and immediately located at Brookfield, N. Y., where he continued to practice for three years, at the end of which time he moved to Massillon, Ohio, and four years later, to Canton, where he has since resided and practiced. In January, 1869, he married Miss Rozella D., daughter of Anson T. Clark, of Brookfield, N. Y. A. C. Brandt was born in Ashland County in July, 1852. He was educated at the schools of Haysville, and at Lebanon College, and read medicine in 1873 with Dr. T. S. Hunter, of Ashland. He attended lectures at the Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York City, from which institution he graduated in 1877. He " hung out his shingle " in Canton in January, 1878, and has since remained there in active practice. For a young man, he has met with marked success. In 1878 and 1879, he was a member of the Board of Health of Canton, and, since his location in the city, has been Secretary of the Stark County Medical Society. Judson H. Day (deceased) was born in Deerfield, Portage Co., Ohio, September 2, 1804. He read medicine under Dr. Menary, of Deerfield, and finished under Dr. Shreve, of Massillon. Soon after this, he began practicing, a portion of the time at Lima and for a short period at Marlboro, Stark County. He was a successful practitioner during his long career. Leon B. Santee is a native of Mahoning County, Ohio, his birth occurring in June, 1853. His early education was received from the common schools. He attended the Mount Union College, and graduated in July, 1875. After reading medicine with Dr. Miller, of Alliance, for a short time, he entered the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania, and graduated in medicine March, 1878. In April, 1878, he went to Marlboro and formed a partnership with Dr. Harper, and has since remained there in active practice. W. O. Baker was born in Northampton County, Penn., December 12, 1827. He began the study of medicine at the age of twenty in opposition to the wishes of his parents. He finally attended the Jefferson Medical College, of Philadelphia in 1852, but, owing to a lack of means, did not graduate. He began practicing in Nimishillen Township in 1855, and located in Louisville in 1858 ; here he has since resided and practiced. In September, 1873, he received a diploma from Cleveland Medical College. He has an extensive practice. John Schilling was born near Frankfort on the Main, in Germany, October 10, 1794. After receiving a fine classical education at the European schools, he, at the age of twenty-five years, began studying medicine, and finally, in about 1836, graduated at the Wurtsburg Medical College. In 1837, he came to the United States, practicing first at Bolivar, Ohio, and later, at Louisville and Osnaburg. In 1852, he opened a drug store at Crestline, Ohio, but at the end of eighteen months returned to Louisville and again began practicing. Here he remained at work until 1876, when advancing years and failing vigor compelled him to cease active practice. He has had a long and eventful experience in the practice of medicine. Died the present year. A. S. Sheets was born in Columbiana County in 1824. When he was six months old, his father was accidentally killed, and the boy was thrown among strangers. He studied medicine with Dr. Dillenbaugh, and, in 1846, went to Fremont, Ohio, where he practiced three years, and then removed to Huntington, Ind. After practicing there for some time he lost health, and his practice languished. In 1857, he located at Harrisburg, Stark County, where 286 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY. he has since remained, practicing and farming to some extent. J. P. Schilling was born in Louisville in September, 1840. In 1857, he began reading medicine under his father's supervision, and in 1860, attended lectures at the Western Reserve College, the medical department being located at Cleveland. His medical education was completed by his graduation from the Starling Medical College of Columbus, during the winter of 1863-64. He immediately hung out his shingle in Louisville, where he has since remained in active practice. J. S. Beucler was born in Switzerland in 1829. He received a good education, and taught several terms of .school in his native land. His medical studies were begun in 1853. Two years later, he came to Louisville, Ohio, and began practicing his profession. With the exception of three years spent in Wayne County, he has since remained in practice at Louisville. J. P. Callahan was born in Mahoning County in 1835, and, when about nineteen years of age, began reading medicine with Dr. J. M. Hole, of Greenford, and, in 1869, graduated at the Eclectic Medical College of Pennsylvania. He practiced ten years at Berlin Center, and, in 1870, located at Alliance, where he has since resided, practicing his profession. John V. Lewis was born in Greenford, Ma-honing Co., in 1836, and read medicine with Dr. A. Wickart, of his native town, after which he attended lectures at the Eclectic Medical Institute of Cincinnati. He practiced at East Berlin, Ill., for a time, but at length returned to Ohio and formed a partnership with his preceptor. In 1869, he graduated from the above-mentioned institution, and, in 1871, located at Alliance. Here he has since remained. Joseph Dnlworth, a native of Columbiana County, studied medicine in Mount Union, and afterward attended lectures at the Cleveland Medical College, but did not graduate. He located in Mount Union, where he enjoyed a lucrative practice until the time of his death, which event occurred in November, 1878. He was elected to the State Legislature in 1868. A. H. Day was born in Deerfield, Ohio, November, 1815. He began the study of medicine in 1840 with his brother, J. H. Day. He studied thus for three years and then began practicing in Columbiana County, and after six months went to New Baltimore where he has been the greater portion of the time since. Through his long practice he has had reasonable success. J. H. Rogers was born in Wayne County, Ohio, in November, 1847. His medical studies were begun in the fall of 1873, under Dr. Barnes, of Fredericksburg, Ohio. In 1875-76, he attended medical lectures at the University of Wooster, Cleveland, from which institution he graduated. Soon after this he began practicing at Beech City, where he remained until the fall of 1878, and then went to Louisville, where he has enjoyed a lucrative practice since. A. B. Campbell was born in Canada, where he first began the study of medicine. He afterward attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, graduating from the medical department in April, 1871. He practiced for two years in Summit County, and then removed to Canal Fulton, where he has since remained. During the winter of 1880-81, he attended the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia to further perfect himself in his profession. H. Dissinger is a native of Summit County, Ohio. He began the study of medicine in 1875, under Dr. D. Rowe, of Manchester. In 1878, he graduated at the Medical College of Ohio, Cincinnati ; he is also a graduate of the Long Island Hospital College of Brooklyn, New York. In December, 1878, he located at Canal Fulton and has secured a large practice. C. M. Dickson is also a native of Summit County. He began the study of medicine with his father, Dr. M. M. Dickson, under whose direction he remained one year. He then entered the Medical College at Ann Arbor, Mich., and graduated in 1880. He practiced seven months in Port Clinton, Summit County, and then removed to Canal Fulton, where he has since been in active practice. Z. T. Goucher is a native of the Keystone State. He studied medicine with his father, Dr. C. W. toucher, and at last, after a collegiate course, graduated at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 1873. He then practiced at Inwood, Ind., three years, and also three years at Lester's Ford, Indiana. He removed to Ohio and practiced two years at Orrville, and then located in North Lawrence, where he has since resided and practiced. J. W. McCort began the study of medicine with Dr. Carter. of Carrollton ; attended lec- CANTON TOWNSHIP - 287 tures in Cincinnati, and finally graduated in medicine at the Bellevue Medical Hospital, New York. He located in Waynesburg in 1872, and has since remained there with a flourishing practice. B. S. Dibble has been located in Minerva in the practice of medicine over thirty years. Dr. Sanor, of the same place, has been a resident of Stark county a number of years. A biographical sketch of Dr. George Holtz of New Berlin, and Dr. J. Steese of Uniontown, will appear in another part of the work. J. M. Bye is a native of Columbiana County, and a graduate of the Medical Department of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. He has enjoyed an active practice at Waynesburg since 1865. Alexander F. Atwell was born in Columbiana County ; read medicine with Drs. Frease & Graham, of Hanover, and has been practicing at Waynesburg more than twenty years. As dentistry may be considered an adjunct of medicine, it is proper to mention that the first dentist in Stark county was S. P. Hullihan,. He was a self-made man—had learned the silversmith trade, and afterward took up dentistry, and followed it some five years in Canton, then removed to Wheeling, Va., where he acquired a high reputation, not only as an expert dentist. but as a surgeon in special operations. As early as 1836, a Medical Society was formed, composed of the most reputable and prosperous members of the profession, located in different parts of the county. They continued to meet regularly semi-annually and for a time quarterly, until internal dissensions arose, created by the introduction of personal quarrels, based on alleged violations of the code of ethics. For a time the society would be dissolved, and again convoked under a new regime—flourish temporarily, only to again wane. At present it has only a sickly existence. Most of the members belong to the Union Medical Association, of North eastern Ohio, which meets quarterly, having a representation from a number of counties, is a much larger body, and the meetings always interesting and profitable, which contributes to cripple the county organization. CHAPTER VIII.* CANTON TOWNSHIP—ITS GENERAL AND PHYSICAL FEATURES—MEYER'S LAKE—SETTLEMENT BY WHITES—AN INCIDENT—ORIGINAL PLAT OF CANTON— SLUSSER'S MILL —INDIANS—SCHOOLS— A RETROSPECTION. " See Nature clothed in smiles, With joy repays the laborer for his toils." Meigs CANTON TOWNSHIP was one of the first townships organized in the county. It is bounded on the north by Plain ; east by Ostia-burg ; south by Pike ; and west by Perry Township. It is six miles square, and covers, therefore, an area of thirty-six square miles, or thirty-six complete sections of land. Situated but a few miles south of the summit that divides the valley of the Ohio from that of the great lakes, it has some geographical features common to both ; but the predominating ones are those of the Ohio River basin, to which it properly belongs. The surface 'features are varied—rolling and inclined to be hilly, in the northeastern portion ; in the northwestern, * Contributed by Prof. Daniel Worley. it is almost a level plain ; south of the cen tral section line, it becomes more and mon hilly, until in the southeastern and southwest crn portions it is very rough and hilly ; am this is particularly the case along the Nimi shillen Creek just before it leaves the town ship, where steep, precipitous banks rise of both sides to an elevation of 150 to 200 feet and extend back in each direction, east am west, for a considerable distance. The Nimi shillen is hemmed in by ridges of moderate elevation through its whole extent, inclosing bottom land of great fertility from half a mil( to a mile in width. Hurford's Hill, a little west of south from Canton, and Buck Hill, about two miles southwest, not more than one and half miles distant from each other, are remark able from the fact that, while each of them it of about the height of 125 feet, they differ   288 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY. radically and materially from each other, and represent quite closely the difference of the sections in which they are situated. The former is composed of shales of slate, several coal veins, fire clay and limestone, and it is characteristic of the whole, or nearly the whole, eastern and southern parts of the township. The latter is a mound of gravel-drift formation, and characterizes the northwestern part. The eastern and southern sections, including all parts of the township east of the Nimishillen and its west branch, belong to the forest region of North America. A small branch, rising from springs in swamp land, a little south of the middle section line of the township, and emptying into the Nimishillen three-eighths of a mile below the junction of its east-and-west branches, is the southern boundary, as the West Nimishillen is the eastern, of a sandy-soil region extending in a northwesterly direction to the Tuscarawas River. The southern portion of this region in Canton Township had some small timber ; but eighty years ago, the greater part of it was without trees and covered with long grass, and was the first of a series of prairies west of the Alleghanies, which, gradually growing larger, at last culminated in the great prairies of the Northwest. The lands here are fertile gravel lands of drift formation, and are at this time in a high state of cultivation, ranking among the first lands in the county for the raising of all kinds of grain. Most of the hilly portions of the township, and the valleys inclosed by them, are clay lands, though gravel and sand hills are by no means uncommon among them. They are mostly underlaid with coal strata of sufficient thickness to be profitably worked. The soil is generally fertile on these hills and in the valleys, and yields a rich return to the labor of the husbandman, while the coal beneath, readily mined from the hillsides, gives a double source of income, and makes the land very valuable. From the northeastern part of the township a branch of the Nimishillen Creek, flowing southwesterly and in a westerly direction, meets the Middle Branch of the same creek coming from the north, just northeast of Canton, and they there form what is familiarly known as the East Creek, which, flowing in a southwesterly direction two and a half miles, forms a junction with the West Creek, south of Canton, and makes, with this, the Nimishillen Creek. From this point the Nimishillen flows in a southwesterly course through the township. The West Creek comes from the northwestern part of the township, and on its way it receives the outlet from Meyer's Lake. Besides the tributary from the west, already mentioned above as dividing the gravel from the clay lands, the Nimishillen, farther down, has another small tributary from the east. Springs and small rivulets are very numerous, and these, with the creeks, render the soil well watered. Meyer's Lake is in the northwestern part of the township, and is a beautiful sheet of clear water, supplied partly by the natural rainfall, and partly by numerous springs in its bottom coming from the gravel formation of the section and its northwestern extension, described above. This lake is one of a number of similar bodies of fresh water found in this part of the State of Ohio. It is now from a half to three-fourths of a mile long, with perhaps an average width of one-fourth of a mile. Formerly the lake undoubtedly was of much greater extent, as evidenced from the swamp lands at its northwestern, and more particularly at its southern and southeastern extremities. Its outlet has its origin in the last-named place. Its northern shore is a precipitous bluff, back of which is heavy timber land, mostly yet standing. The lake has long been a favorite resort for the boys fond of fishing, and when we say boys we mean many of larger growth as well as the smaller ones. It is well supplied with the fish common to this part of the country, and it seems that the supply is inexhaustible. To those skilled in Sir Isaac Walton's favorite art, it scarcely ever refuses to give a favorable response. This lake is also the natural supply for the water consumption of Canton City, though, on account of deficiencies of one kind and the other, the city has to depend to a considerable extent on the West Nimishillen Creek for its water supply, for fire protection and even for ordinary demands. With the exception of swamp lands about Meyer's Lake and along the Nimishillen Creek, the lands of Canton Township are profitable for cultivation ; the swamp lands will, one day or other, also be turned to good account ; and, as this township is on the direct line of the wheat-growing section of the State, and its bottom landsare almost or quite equal to those of the Lower Muskingum, Scioto and Miami Valleys CANTON TOWNSHIP - 289 for the growth of Indian corn, it is fairly presumable that no other portion of Ohio has greater agricultural advantages ; and, that these, with its mineral resources, render the township rich among the richest in the means of supporting comfortably a large population. Though the western portion of the township is said to be on the line of the great storms from the Northwest. with a few exceptions, it has as yet escaped their fury ; and the times they did come they were of very limited extent in width, and not nearly as destructive as in most other parts of the country subject to their direful visitations. The climate is generally good, and tends to long life and happiness ; neither too excessively cold in winter nor too hot in summer ; neither, on the average, too wet nor too dry. The prevailing type in the population of the township is Pennsylvania German, noted for its industry, frugality and slow but steady progress. The Yankee spirit of radical progression has not been wanting ; the versatile Frenchman, the sprightly Irishman and the solid German from Fatherland have all made their influence felt ; and these have, with the prevailing Pennsylvanians, succeeded in giving a spirit of progressive conservatism which has made Canton Township people successful, prosperous and safe against all ordinary reverses in business. Her farmers are noted for solidity, intelligence, industry, thrift ; her capital city for rapid growth, great and even world-renowned manufactures, and a citizenship which, for general safety in business and for public virtue, stands among the fairest in this or any other land. The early pioneers in the settlement of Stark County commenced near the present site of the city of Canton. Previous to the year 1805, the land office for all this part of the country was at Steubenville, in Jefferson County, of which originally this county was a part. Connected with the land office was James F. Leonard. He seems to have been the first one who came into Canton Township with the purpose of remaining and making a permanent settlement. In March, 1805, in company with James and Henry Barber, he established a station just northeast of the present city, and near the county fair grounds, on the well known Reed farm. This farm has the reputation, therefore, of being the first settled in the township and in the county. Leonard and the Barber brothers took pains to induce other settlers to come here, and showed them lands suitable for location ; and, when required, surveyed and measured them. Leonard, as a land surveyor, made frequent trips to Steubenville ; and, on one of these trips, he induced one of his personal friends named James Culbertson, to come back with him. Soon after coming here, however, the latter was attacked with inflamation of the lungs, and died on the 5th of October, 1805, his being the first death among the white people in the county. Others from Pennsylvania and Maryland came during the fall of 1805, who located lands, and did some clearing ; but returned to their Eastern homes before winter. Soon after the establishment of Leonard's Station, another was established by Butler Wells and Daniel McClure, who were also surveyors from Steubenville, upon lands located and owned by Bezaleel Wells, about two miles northwest of Canton, near what was then called the Large Spring, now well known as Meyer's Lake, so named from Andrew Meyers, who afterward owned a large body of land around it. Wells and McClure brought workmen with them to build upon the lands and to cultivate them, their effort being most likely the first one for a systematic occupancy and cultivation in the township. These stations of Leonard and Wells were chosen with good judgment and discrimination ; the one being in the undulating forest region almost at the very entrance of the less rugged and hilly lands between the branches of the Nimishillen Creek, as compared with the lands east and south of Canton, which, though good lands for farming and rich in mineral resources, were not, at this early period, so well adapted to please the eyes of emigrants from the older settlements seeking a new location ; the other, upon the plains west of the Nimishillen, offering a tempting bait to settlers desirous of finding land already cleared, and waiting for the farmer to come in, possess and bring out its rich resources. As a consequence of this foresight on their part, these stations soon became, at this early period, the points to which emigrants came in their search for new homes. The wood-less lands of the prairie, however, did not, for a long time at first, receive from the early settlers the attention which, from their agricultural worth, they should have had. Most of them -preferred the wooded lands northward from Canton, and hence, the early settlement of Plain   290 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY. Township is almost coincident with that of Canton Township. In July, 1806, Leonard united in marriage with a daughter of James Barber, one of his associates, which is worthy of special note as the first marriage in Stark County. In the autumn of 1805, Leonard surveyed and platted the original Canton, and at the first sale of lots by public outcry, in 1806, he purchased the lot on the southwest corner of Seventh and Market streets, and erected thereon a brick building, so long and so well known as the Oberly corner, which stood a relic of the olden times until the year 1879, when it was torn away to give place for Sherrick & Miller's large and imposing hardware store and building. Later, he removed to Plain Township, thence to Jackson Township, afterward to Summit County, and finally to Cleveland, where he died at an advanced age. Meeting as he did, at that early period, all classes of persons, who had come West to look up new locations for themselves and families, he had many adventures, and in after years, took great pleasure in relating these and stories of the pioneer times. One of these may give a better insight into the then condition of things by being given here. A stranger from the East came to the station, during Leonard's absence on a trip to Steubenville, to register lands for various persons in the land offnce there, which he had measured for them. It was on a Saturday, in the spring of the year 1805 ; the Barber Brothers and Culbertson, who were in charge of the station, were engaged by the stranger to show him the lands as far from the station as it was safe to venture, on the following day, Sunday. The stranger had brought with him $338 in silver, in a heavy cloth sack, in which he also carried his provisions for the journey ; for greater security, before starting out to look at land, he placed this in the trunk of a hollow tree, and carefully covered the opening with moss, so that it might not be discovered by any one during his absence. Returning to the station late on Sunday evening, he concluded to let it remain in the tree until the next morning. But what were his terror and astonishment when, on Monday morning, he could find no trace of sack, or money, or the very necessary, in those days, bread and meat. The man was inconsolable, and as there was an encampment of Indians in the neighborhood, he naturally charged the theft upon them. But as he could find no trace of his money, and an encounter with the Indians to justify his suspicions and recover it, was entirely out of the question, he went homeward with a heavy heart ; $300 in those days was a large amount, and it was doubtless the man's whole fortune, the savings from many years of previous industry and economy. On the way back, he met Leonard and told him of his loss, and also of his suspicions against the Indians. Leonard consoled the man as best he could, and assured him of his own belief that wolves, and not the Indians, were the thieves, and that, probably, the money would be again recovered at some later day. Four months later, three men from Pennsylvania were looking over the land, about a half mile from the tree-trunk in which the money had been placed, to find a desirable location, when one of them picked up a piece of the ticking sack ; this, of course, led the man who was conducting them to relate the story of the stranger's loss, whereupon all made diligent search, and found nearly all of the stolen treasure. Wolves, indeed, true to their instinct, and lured by the savory smell of cooked meat, had discovered the hiding-place, and carried off sack, bacon and money ; but as they had no special need of the last, they left it lying around loose among the leaves of the forest. Among those who selected and located land in Canton Township, in the year 1805, were David Bechtel, Jacob Aultman, the Baer family, Philip Schlosser (afterward written Slusser), and William Ewing. The original title conveying one-fourth of Section 11 to David Bechtel was signed by Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States, and James Madison, Secretary of State, and is still in possession of the family. Bechtel came from Maryland to Columbiana County in 1803 ; in 1805, he located his land in Canton Township : and in the fall of 1806 he came back with a hired man, built himself a log cabin, cleared three acres of land, and sowed it with wheat. He then returned to Columbiana County, and, having taken unto himself a wife, the young married couple removed to their new home, in the spring of 1807 ; here he lived until his death, in the year 1833. David Bechtel was one of the first settlers in the township who turned his attention to the raising of fruit. His CANTON TOWNSHIP - 291 orchard was planted upon high ground, where it would be less liable to injury from frost, and while planting for the future, he lived long enough to enjoy the fruits of his labor. He was also a great hunter, and when away from home, he was always accompanied by his trusty rifle, even when attending a funeral. He also wore a large knife attached to a girdle by his side. One night his dogs treed three bears on one tree, near his cabin, and held them there till morning, when he shot them. On another occasion, he had a fight with a stag, which, but for his faithful knife, would probably soon have made an end of him. Thinking that, inasmuch as the animal fell immediately when he fired, he had killed him, Bechtel went up to hnm, and he lay apparently dead, not moving a limb, but when he had drawn his knife to cut off the stag's head, and had taken hold of the antlers to turn his head around, the deer very suddenly leaped to his feet, attacked his assailant, and with one prong of his antlers, nailed him to a tree by his left hand. In this dangerous position, Bechtel's own presence of mind, and great strength, proved his salvation ; a less determined and plucky man would certainly have perished. With almost superhuman strength, he plunged the knife into the stag's breast, and the latter fell over dead in reality, thus releasing Bechtel from his imminent peril. The ball from Bechtel's rifle had only struck the skull of the stag, and rendered him temporarily insensible. Bechtel also followed trapping successfully, and gathered, from time to time, a very great number of Otter and other kinds of pelts along the Nimishillen Creek. On Bechtel's farm, there was an Indian burying-ground or mound. Many remains of arrows and stone arrow-heads, together with many other articles of use among the Indians, made of stone and iron, have been found there. It has been said that a building, which stood upon this mound many years ago, was frequently visited by the ghosts of the Indians sleeping underneath, but, like other ghost stories, the report lacks authentic confirmation. Despoiled as these Indians often were, in those early days, of their lands and their homes, it would not be at all wonderful if departed spirits could at all return to earth, that theirs should return once in awhile to disturb the slumbers of the children of their despoilers. Bechtel was a good man in general, was a good neighbor, and was honored with the respect of the community in which he lived, having been elected for several successive terms to the responsible position of County Commissioner, in which place his acts gave general satisfaction ; but he did not like the Indians who at that time were yet quite numerous in his neighborhood. One of these had the impudence to display a number of human tongues on a string, and to boast, Indian fashion, that they were the tongues of white men whom he had killed with his own hand. Boasting thus on one occasion in the presence of Bechtel and others, the Indian and he left the company at the same time, and the Indian was never seen afterward. The supposition generally was that Bechtel had used his opportunity and assisted his red-skin brother home to the happy hunting-grounds of his fathers. However it may have been, Bechtel kept his own counsel well, and posterity are left to conjecture the truth as best they may. Politically, Mr. Bechtel belonged the old Jeffersonian school. Philip Slusser came from Cumberland County, Penn., to Beaver County in the year 1804. The next spring he came to Stark County, chose a quarter-section of land directly east of Canton, and had the same entered in the land offnce at Steubenville. He then returned to Pennsylvania, and in the autumn of 1805, leaving his wife and younger children in the old home, he came back with his three sons, Philip, Peter and John, and his daughter Elizabeth, to take charge of the housekeeping branch of the business, together with eight or ten laborers. He erected the first mill in the county for grinding wheat and other grains. This mill, so long and so favorably known as the Roland Mill, has played a by no means unimportant part in the early settlement of Canton and the township. Previous to its establishment, the settlers were obliged to go thirty or forty miles away to the older settlements for their flour, and not at all unfrequently it required a number of days to get it ground, to say nothing of the long and wearisome journeys to mill and back home again. It must be remembered that in those days our pioneer settlers did not have the benefit of well-established and worked roads ; the greater part of the country between them and-the older settlements was an unbroken wilderness, and the roads were often mere paths through the woods. Some, accordingly, were obliged to live almost entirely upon wild game 292 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY. and fish, or used hand-mills and depended largely upon. hominy for their grain supply. Others took a piece of iron plate, perforated it, and ground their corn, or rather, we should say, crushed it through the perforations by rubbing it on the rough side of the iron plate. Necessity is said to be the mother of invention, and the necessities of the fathers in the then Western wilds of our country led them to adopt many different ways to provide for themselves and their families. Soon after the establishment of the Slusser Mill, another one, a small log house upon four stone pillars, was erected a few miles northwest of Canton, on the West Branch of the Nimishillen, where the well-known Trump's mill now stands, for grinding Indian corn. Two rough stones were used, but according to tradition, the corn meal turned out from this mill was so coarse and full of sand that it was not even fit for making the once famous Johnny cake, the favorite morsel in those days upon many a pioneer's table. It need hardly be added that the miller, in that mill, received, on this account, the hearty benedictions of the girls and women of the period, such as only such girls and women knew how to give them. A saw-mill was added to this mill a little later, but was carried away by a flood the same year it was built ; a consequence, presumably, of the bad corn meal made there. Slusser's mill seems to have done good work from the beginning of its establishment, and naturally drew custom, not only from Canton but also from Plain Township north. Among other reminiscences connected with the mill is the following : On one occasion, Elizabeth Harter, a fifteen-year-old daughter of George Harter, of Plain Township, was sent to mill with five and one-half bushels of wheat, three bushels in one bag and the remainder in another. She carried the lighter bag upon one horse which she rode, and the other upon one which she led ; she was detained at the mill until late in the afternoon, when she started home with her flour. There was no road except a path through the dense woods for a part of the way, and as it was rapidly becoming dark she pushed her horses forward, as soon as she left Canton behind, so as to reach home in good time. But the path soon became more and more indistinct, and she finally deviated from it somewhat, when the overhanging boughs of the trees swept the bag of flour off from the horse she was leading. Here was a new difficulty, and she was about at her wits' ends ; but the girls of that time did not readily yield to trifles, and Elizabeth dismounted and used her best endeavors to put the sack back to its place ; she did succeed in getting it upon her shoulder, but her strength was not great enough to throw it over the horse ; she worried herself with it, however, a long tnme, and was about giving up in despair, with the thought of going back to Canton until morning, as she had yet several miles home, when an old settler, Frederick Rodacker, happened to come along, and threw the sack upon the horse. As by this time it had become quite dark, he advised her to go with him home, and she did so. But her mother was naturally very much alarmed at her daughter's long absence, and, thinking that Elizabeth had lost her way in the woods, she blew a horn for more than half the night, so that her daughter might discern the way to the house. Early the next morning, after having been hospitably entertained by Mr. Rodacker, she returned home with her flour, to the great joy of the entire family. It was of such material that our early settlers were made ; they could go out with their husbands and fathers, and help them clear the land and roll the logs together for burning, satisfied with a cold lunch for dinner, from morning until night. Elizabeth Harter afterward became Mrs. Baer, and still later, Mrs. Grubb, and is still living in a green old age. the is active beyond her years, and has a good memory of those early times. Few, if any, of the girls of this day would venture or could accomplish what she has done. Philip Slusser was born in the Upper Rhine country of Germany, and was a man of decided. upright character. He was one of the first Commissioners of this county, and was held in high esteem by all who knew him. He died in the year 1828. His sons, Philip and Peter. removed later to Tuscarawas Township, while his third son, John, carried on a saw-mill, commenced as early as 1807, for many years. John Slusser was the father of our respected fellow-citizen and highly successful physician, Dr. Lewis Slusser, who has represented the county in the General Assembly of the State, and, in later years, was Superintendent of the Newburg Asylum for the Insane near Cleveland. In connection with his business in the sawmill, John Slusser soon became apt in the use CANTON TOWNSHIP - 293 of tools, and, as then there was no cabinetmaker in the county, he was often called upon to furnish bedsteads, cradles, cupboards and other articles of household furniture, until he found it necessary, finally, to make this his regular business, which he continued on East Tuscarawas street, east of Walnut, until he retired from active business. He died in the year 1859. Concerning a great flood on the East Creek, such as has not since occurred, he has given us the following account : " In June, 1807, it thundered and rained without intermission for two days and two nights, and the Nimishillen raised rapidly and overflowed its banks. The log house of my father stood between the creek and the mill-dam, and had about four feet of water on the first floor. It was just as high on the west side of the creek. Everything in the house was taken up to the garret of the house, excepting a barrel of whisky (an article generally used and considered necessary in those days), and one or two other heavy articles that could not be removed. It was considered unsafe for several days to attempt crossing the stream. After it had fallen a few feet, a man by the name of Brown came from one of the settlements east of us on his way to Canton to purchase some tools. He was acquainted with some of the mill-hands and wanted to be taken over the swollen creek. Mr. Fischel and his son took him safely over, but when, about sundown, they were trying to return, they were carried away by the, force of the stream, ran against the trunk of a tree and were thrown into the water. John Fischel swam to the eastern shore ; his father was carried by the force of the stream to the western shore, and Brown was drowned. His corpse was found a few days afterward about fifty rods from the place. The mill-hands buried him upon a high bank of the creek about one hundred rods from the mill. Brown was known to he a good swimmer, and it is thought that he was thrown against the trunk of a tree, or was in some way rendered powerless, when otherwise he could readily and easily, have saved himself. He was the second person buried in Stark County. In those days, wolves and bears were plenty all over this country, and ready for any prey that offered itself to their clutches. It was no uncommon event for the old settlers to be awakened out of their sleep at night by the cries of distress coming from one or the other of their domestic animals. The ready gun was at all such times called into requisition, and did good service both by ridding the settlements of one or more of the undesirable intruders, and by serving notice upon others to keep their distance. The present generation can scarcely appreciate the annoyances which for years accompanied the efforts of the old pioneers to open up this new country to civilization and progress, where now, in less than three quarters of a century, peace and plenty prevail, and luxury even crowns the frequent, festive board. But most of the annoyances of those days, outside of those necessarily incident to all pioneer life, came from the four-footed inhabitants of these Western wilds. The Indians of the neighborhood were peacefully disposed toward their " white brothers," by whom they had been generally treated in a fair, kind and friendly manner. These Indians belonged to the Delaware and Chippewa tribes, and had their chief encampment hereabouts, at the junction of the two branches of the Nimishillen Creek, south of Canton. They would often visit the new settlers, to the number of 200 or 300 at a time, and were generally well behaved, except occasionally, when under the influence of the white man's fire-water, some of the more belligerent of the tribe would get into quarrels, sometimes with the whites and sometimes among themselves ; but very few adventures of a serious character are related to have occurred in this, as in many other parts of the country. How much of this was the result of the strong Pennsylvania type of the early settlers, it is not possible, of course, at this day, accurately to determine ; though it probably was not without its influence. Among the few well-authenticated adventures of the early period is one of Dr. Cunningham's, with the Indians. Dr. Cunningham was an Irishman, and managed in some way to give serious and deadly offense to the Indians, by whom he was, in turn, watched and followed up with great bitterness. Though peacefully inclined, vengeance upon an enemy and revenge for an injury done them were, here as elsewhere, an essential part of an Indian's make-up. The white man, fearing for his life, fled westward as far as Mansfield, but finding himself hotly pursued by his relentless enemies, and fearing that sooner or later he might fall alive 294 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY. into their hands, he ended the chase by putting a musket ball through his own head. It is also stated that, at a later period, after Hull's surrender, during the last war with Great Brit ain, most of the men from these parts were paroled, and returned immediately to their homes. When a squad of them came to Canton, it so happened that a number of friendly Indians were in town trading. At this time, when the passions of the citizen-soldiery of the Western country were especially bitter against the Indians for the part the hostile tribes, under the influence of British emissaries, had been playing in the war, the sight of even friendly ones was sufficient to excite a desire and a determination to attack, and, if possible, destroy them, but the more considerate white residents of the town restrained the desire of the soldiers, until the Indians, getting an intimation of the brewing storm, wisely concluded to get out of the way for a season. Had it not been for the red man's considerate action, it would be hard to imagine the direful results of a rash attack upon them, either at the time or in after years. They did not venture back again until after the close of the war, when most of the bitterness against them had subsided. In later years, as the white population increased, the Indians who remained occupied mostly a semi -mendicant position, and could often be seen on the streets picking up six-penny pieces for a show of their skill at shooting with the bow and arrow. On these occasions they were frequently accompanied by their squaws, exposing beadwork and baskets for sale, in the making of which article, the Indian women were justly celebrated ; but contrasted with the mendicant organ-grinder of this more enlightened age. the uncouth son of the forest exhibiting his skill in archery to make money does not stand out in the worst light either. But the Indian and his manner of life have long since departed, and his memory only lives among the traditions of a few of the oldest inhabitants. Canton Township has been rapidly developing her resources, and already supports a large population ; but her capacity in this direction is far from being exhausted. Indeed, she has not yet commenced to approximate even the limit of her powers. The days of large farms and much unremunerative labor, or, to say the least, not adequately remunerative farming, are beginning to wane. The tendency to hold fewer acres, and to farm them more scientifically, and, therefore, more thoroughly, grows apace ; and what, with her natural advantages and commercial relations to Canton City, she will be yet able to accomplish, is hardly a matter of conjecture any longer. Her history. however, is so interwoven with that of the city cotemporary with the township, that we must reserve for the former much of what is to be said of her history as equally the property of both. In addition to Canton, the township includes the village of North Industry, on the west bank of the Nimishillen, near the southern line of the township, a flourishing little village, in the immediate vicinity of which is Browning's mill, doing a thriving business, under the management of Mr. 0. F. Browning, a resident of Canton. In the township, outside of the city, there are also Trump's Mill, on the site of the second oldest mill in the county, northwest of Canton, and the Stark Mill, about one and a half miles south of the city, both of which do an extensive milling business, together with the East Canton Mill, on the site of the old Slusser Mill, to which extensive reference has been made above in this chapter. Before closing, it will well subserve the purpose of history to refer to more personal reminiscences than have been given above of some parties already mentioned, and of some others. among the early settlers of this township. Among these, we take first the death of James Culbertson. He was born in Franklin County, Penn., of wealthy parents, who gave him a liberal education. He married a lady of considerable property, and commenced life under very favorable circumstances. At or about the close of the Revolutionary war, he united as a young man with a body of horse-troops. at that time so popular, and in this connection contracted a habit of hard drinking, which eventually led to financial embarrassment and domestic infelicity. He, therefore, left his family and friends, in the hope of retrieving his waning prospects in the West. As before said, he came in company with Leonard, from Steubenville, in the year 1805. to the station of the latter on the old Reed farm. In the autumn of the same year, he went on a visit to an Indian trader, located at the mouth of Sandy. According to the prevailing hospitality of the times, he indulged very freely in the CANTON TOWNSHIP - 295 use of whisky, and being obliged to lie out of night, in a country beset with heavy fogs, he contracted a severe cold, from which inflammation of the lungs ensued soon after his return to Leonard's Station. There was no physician nearer than Steubenville, but his comrades, thrown upon their own resources, did the best they could for the unfortunate sufferer, but in vain, for he died four days after, during the last week of October, 1805, and was buried, without coffin or ceremony, by his associates, Henry Friday, Hugh Cunningham, James F. Leonard, and the latter's brother, in a beautiful grove near the station. The grave is unmarked by stone or marble slab, but is within pistol shot of the present county fair grounds. Nearly fifty years ago, a man by the name of Christian Bachtel lived near North Industry, in the southern part of the township, and was, likewise, addicted to habits of dissipation. He frequently came home under the influence of liquor, and, consequently, there were frequent family broils. His wife, an industrious and economical woman, was compelled, by her husband's excesses, to do the best she could to support herself and children. One night, after his wife had retired for the night, he came home maddened with liquor. Words naturally ensued, but, at last, she turned away from him, and was apparently asleep. He then struck her with an ax-helve, fracturing, her skull, and, upon her moaning, gave her a second stroke, to make sure of her death. He took up the youngest child, sleeping by the mother's side, and placed it in a bed with the other children. With a few articles of clothing, his wife's earnings, and a flask of whisky, he went from his home a fugitive, to wander he knew not whither. Self-accused of the horrible crime which he had committed, his only support in his dire extremity, the whisky-flask, he was overtaken in two or three days near Wooster, within thirty miles of the scene of the tragedy, arrested, and brought back, without resistance, to jail at Canton. His trial occurred a few months later. In the trial, the State was represented by Starkweather & Jarvis ; the prisoner by Harris & Metcalf. The defense set up for the doomed man was his own insanity and the infidelity of his wife. He was, nevertheless, convicted of murder in the first degree. Judge Lane presided over the court, and sentenced Bachtel to be hung on Friday. November 22, 1833, a sentence that was punct ually executed. To the credit of this township and county, it might be added that this was the first and last execution of a murderer from 1833 to 1880, when three young men, boys almost, for crimes committed in the east and west ends of the county respectively, paid the penalty of murder by hanging within the confines of our present city prison. Now, as then, there was a great crowd, and some military, upon precautionary considerations generally approved by our thinking people, but no parade, and no publicity in the execution. It is claimed that 40,000 people attended the execution of Bachtel half that number would probably be nearer the correct figure. Meyer's Lake, from the earliest settlement of the township, has always been a favorite resort for sportsmen, fishermen and pleasure-seekers. But with all the boating and bathing done here for more than seventy years, there has been but one case of drowning. Robert Stewart undertook, in the year 1816, to swim across the lake for the purpose of getting a boat. On account of the many springs with which the lake abounds, some of them very powerful ones, the water, even in midsummer, near the middle of the lake, is fresh and chilly. Stewart was reputed to be a good swimmer, but becoming benumbed or being overtaken with cramps, he was drowned in his attempt. A cannon from Canton was brought into speedy requisition, and .fired over the water in the hope of raising the body, but without result. A few days after, however, the body was found, and was buried on the point which, from this circumstance, has ever since been known as Dead Man's Point. The lake is now known exclusively by the name of Meyer's Lake, and derives this name from Andrew Meyer, who, in the year 1816, came into Canton Township, and purchased, in 1818, 3,000 acres of land, including the lake and the lands about it, from Bazaleel Wells. Being a man of energy, of means and of good business habits, he kept about him a number of' worthy and reliable laborers to develop the rich resources of the vast tract of land which by this purchase came into his possession, and, without ever having held any public position, he exerted a large influence in the early settlement of the township 296 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY. and of the city of Canton. Andrew Meyer was born in Bonn, Prussia, in the year 1762. He served nine years as a soldier in the allied armies of Europe against Napoleon, in the latter part of the last century, but, in 1802, be emigrated to America, and settled in Baltimore City, Md. Here he pursued the business of a brass founder a number of years, and being successful in business, he soon became sole owner of two vessels engaged in the ocean trade, and, at the same time. part owner in several others. He served personally in the war with England in 1812, as a volunteer, giving the faithful services of an old soldier against the enemies of his adopted country. He took an active part in the battles of Baltimore and Bladensburg. against Lord Ross, the British commander. In that war, it will be remembered, Great Britain was fighting to secure a mastery of the sea and the right of impressing American seamen of British birth into her service wherever found. Our Government found it necessary to adopt measures that would have a tendency to render British commerce insecure, and, as her navy (which, however, did most brilliant service during the war), was entirely inadequate for the purpose, the Government accepted, and authorized to engage in the service of the United States against Great Britain, a number of vessels belonging to private parties, and hence these ships took the name of privateers. Two such vessels—the " Joseph " and the " Mary "—were armed and equipped at his own expense by the subject of this sketch, put into the Government service, and they did a good share in the business of privateering. Several of the ships, also, in which Mr. Meyer was only a part owner, were in the same service, and all met with good success except one, which, attempting to run the blockade of Baltimore by night, came unfortunately right up by the side of a British frigate, and, by a broadside from the latter, was so riddled that the crew were forced to take to the boats, when in a few minutes the privateer sunk, and the vessel, with a rich cargo contributed by British merchantmen, went to the the bottom a total loss. The crew escaped and made a safe landing, without the loss of a man. Andrew Meyer was the father of three sons and two daughters. After his death in 1849, his vast property was divided among these children, and, as it was entailed property to the deceased's grandchildren, nearly the whole of it is yet in the possession of his heirs, most of them to-day useful and honored members of society among us. Mr. Meyer's age was beyond the ordinary period allotted to human life when he died in 1849, at the age of eighty-seven years. In him, as in many others of the older settlers of Stark County, the destinies of two centuries and of two continents were closely united. The first building for the accommodation of the public at Meyer's Lake was erected by Meyer & Cross in 1866, and served its purpose well until the increasing demands of the place as a popular resort induced the present owner, our esteemed fellow citizen, Mr. Joseph A. Meyer, a grandson of Andrew Meyer, to build during the winter of 1879-80, the new "Lake Park Hotel," on the north bluff-bank of the lake. The building is two stories high, and is well adapted to accommodate a large number of guests, with all the comforts at hand to make their stay at this pleasant place agreeable aad beneficial. A twelve-foot veranda extends on both floors entirely around the building, and it is surmounted with a tower in the center of the front, eighty feet high. The whole is neat, and indicates good taste on the part of the projectors. The architecture is a combination of the Gothic and Swiss styles, and does credit to the ability of Mr. F. O. Weary, architect, by whom the design was furnished. The construction or the building was under the care of Mr. D. C. Miller. With the increased accommodations both for invalids and pleasure-seekers now furnished, the popularity of Meyer's Lake as a place of public resort, is constantly increasing. By care on the part of the proprietors, and the observance of strict rules of propriety and order on the part of visitors, there is no good reason why the " Lake Park Hotel" may not be as popular a place of resort as many of the older watering-places of the East. The first boat-house at the lake was erected by the Eclipse Boat Club, of Canton. in 1873. This club held their first regular regatta August 12, 1876, and have held one each year since. They have been well sustained. and are becoming each year more and more popular with the staid citizens of the solid old Pennsylvania Dutch city of. Canton and the surrounding towns. Readers of Russian history and adventure CANTON TOWNSHIP - 297 have often been regaled by highly vivid and exciting stories of the attacks and pursuit of travelers by wolves. We doubt if anything, more trying ever occurred there than was experienced here among the earlier settlers in Ohio. As a sample of these, a friend furnishes us the following authentic scrap of our early history : In 1802, Messrs. Slingluff and Deardorff, in their Western trip, arrived at a point near Canton, on their way to Tuscarawas County, and encamped on the banks of Meyer's Lake. They were weary and much exhausted from the want of rest and sustaining food. But with all their fatigue and suffering, they were charmed and refreshed by the prospect presented before and all about them. The lake lay immediately before them, and on its rippling surface, fanned by the gentle breezes of the evening, the rays of the setting sun were reflected in a thousand forms of beauty and splendor. The banks were decked with flowers of different colors and of the fairest hues, while evergreens of the deepest green, enlivened the scene. Wild fowl, in countless numbers, were sailing gayly over the water, or feeding along the banks. Their bright plumage and graceful movements gave a sense of peace and security to our weary travelers, and they went on cheerfully, and with the prospect of quiet slumbers and an undisturbed rest before them, to prepare their frugal meal and an encampment for the night. It was a beautiful picture, guaranteeing secure repose, and the travelers laid themselves down confidently to sleep, and to dream of home or the great work to be wrought out by their hands in these Western wilds in the near future. They did sleep a little while, but, suddenly awakening, they heard the dismal howls of scores of barking wolves about their camp. The glaring, fiery eyes of the fierce, bloodthirsty animals, seemed pressing toward them from all directions. There was no safety but in precipitate flight. Their horses, fortunately, as weary but now excited as their riders, were near at hand, and were quickly saddled and mounted. It was several miles to the cabin of the nearest pioneer settler, and it soon became a race for life. For short distance, they rode along the lake, the wolves falling back before them, then, suddenly turning their horses, they rode rapidly in an opposite direction, both horses and riders, by this time, fully alive to the horrors of the situation. The wolves, for a few minutes foiled, became even more furious than before, and soon followed on their track, in constantly increasing numbers, until, in the rapidity and excitement of the chase, their hot breath could almost be felt, as it came from the hungry, furious throats of the now maddened animals. Soon they reached an opening in the woods ; the light from the log fires of the pioneer settler was seen in the distance. Ten minutes more, and they would be saved from every danger for the night. Suddenly, a huge, black wolf sprang at the flank of Deardorff's horse, and was only compelled to relinquish his hold by the free application of Deardorff's heavy whip, but at the very moment of deliverance, his horse stumbled, fell, and threw him over his head in the very midst of the excited animals. But for his companion, Slingluff, he would, with his horse, have been torn in pieces and devoured within a very few minutes. Seeing the situation, and appreciating the danger of his friend and companion, Slingluff, with remarkable presence of mind, quickly wheeled his horse round, and commenced uttering a series of yells and screeches, even more unearthly than those of the infuriated beasts themselves ; they were momentarily checked in the very moment of their triumph. Deardorff, in the meantime, quickly remounted, and before the wolves recovered from their astonishment and confusion from Slingluff's ruse, both reached the settler's clearing, and were safe. In these earlier days the schoolmaster was also abroad to help in the opening-up of both the material and the intellectual capabilities of this then frontier country. The first schoolhouse in Stark County was erected in the year 1807, on the Aultman place, Section 12, of Canton Township. The schoolhouse was made of round logs, and was seven feet high, with a clapboard roof and puncheon floor. As a substitute for windows, small square holes were cut out in the logs, small sticks were set in, and the holes were then covered with greased paper. Logs with feet set in and covered with boards, were the writing desks, and slabs from the saw-mill of Mr. Slusser, with legs attached, furnished the seats of this and many other primitive schoolhouses. John Harris, who afterward attained considerable celebrity as a lawyer in Canton. was the first teacher. The school books then 298 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY. used were Dilworth's Speller, the Old and New Testament of the Bible as readers, and Gough's Arithmetic, with its money calculations all in the old English currency of pounds, shillings and pence. Geography and grammar were not then taught, nor indeed for many years after. Some descendants of the early pioneers are yet occasionally found, so conservative are the people in this locality, who doubt the expediency or the necessity of these studies in our public schools. We are glad, however, to say, that their number is very small. Christopher Bair succeeded Harris as teacher in this school. In the early days, as before and since in Pennsylvania, the " barring " out of teachers was very common here in Ohio. On public days, such as Christmas and New Year's, pupils in schools deemed it the duty of the teacher not only to give them a holiday but also to treat the crowd. In the primitive days a treat of this kind meant whisky for the larger boys and something pleasing for the smaller children, and the few girls who had time to go to school. As a rule, teachers demurred to the demand and a struggle between teacher and pupils was generally the result ; the " barring " process was the usual tactics of the pupils to bring the teacher to terms, when it became a contest partly of physical endurance and partly of tact and skill on the part of the teacher in outwitting his pupils. The parents, having themselves in their younger days been participants in similar contests, either sided with the youngsters or approvingly winked at their doings ; and many teachers of the times were rather anxious to invite the struggle. One of these, in connection with this first school in Canton Township, is on record, and its relation here may be not without interest, even though there is not much instruction in it. John Criswell, a tall, raw-boned man, who prided himself greatly on his disciplinary powers in governing a school, was teacher a few years after Bair. The day before Christmas the larger boys determined that they must have a treat and that the master should furnish the liquor. According to previous arrangement operations were delayed until noon, when, accord. ing to his usual custom, it was known that the teacher would be away for awhile ; the younger children were sent home, and then commenced the operation of barring out. Among the boys prominent—some of them still living —were the Reams, Aultmans, Latimers, Bairs, Sherricks and Trumps. When the teacher returned he found the door effectually " barred." The openings in the logs for windows would not admit the body of any ordinary man, and when Criswell found the doors closed against him he at once became angry and excited. He, of course, demanded, in a peremptory tone, the opening of the door. When told that the conditions of surrender were a bottle of whisky and a dismissal of the school for the next day, he refused at once and threatened dire vengeance upon the heads (or backs) of the perpetrators. His threats did not Amount to much, and when he attempted to get in by tearing off the clapboards of the roof, the boys so pounded his fingers that he was glad to desist ; when he tried to come down the chimney, they smoked him back ; and he was at his wits' end. Necessity is said, however, to be the mother of invention, and Criswell improvising a battering-ram from a heavy fence rail, succeeded at last in breaking in the door and became himself master of the situation. He did not act generously under the circumstances and could only be placated by a severe bodily chastisement of the offenders. The boys got it, but they never forgave the teacher ; many of them no longer attended school, and the teacher soon lost his influence for good in that locality. William Ewing was one of the pioneer settlers already mentioned. Coming from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, he erected a cabin in Section 2 of Canton Township, in the fall of 1805, and in the spring of 1806, came with his wife and five children to occupy it. His goods and some articles of furniture, purchased at Beaver, were brought to his new home on horseback. For several years, in the beginning, it was difficult for him, as for many others of the older settlers, to raise money enough to pay taxes and meet the urgent necessities of their families. People then had often to deprive themselves of what now would be considered absolute necessities, and were to a great extent thrown upon their own resources. Ewing has the credit of being one of the most successful hunters, perhaps absolutely the most successful, that ever lived in the township or county. He killed, on an average, from seventy to eighty deer during the season, in addition to many bears, wolves and wild-cats. This, also, he made a source of revenue. When he had more meat than the needs of his own family CANTON TOWNSHIP - 299 required, he sold to needy emigrants, while he tanned the skins for clothing and moccasins for himself and his family. He and his boys wore buckskin clothes and shoes for many years, and until sheep could be successfully raised, which, on account of the wolves, was at first impossible. But these were the fashions of the day. The women wore " linsey," and were not much concerned with spring and fall changes of fashion. In June, 1811, an eclipse of the sun occurred. The settlers at this period were almost entirely cut off from intercourse with the East, and had had no word of the coming phenomenon. Ewing and his sons were out hoeing corn at the time. It became so dark that the stars were visible in the heavens, and, what was even more remarkable, the chickens went home to roost. Mr. Sowers, afterward Judge Sowers, of Canton, with others, was engaged in shingling a roof on the Kauffman House, corner of Ninth and Market streets, Canton. Every person looked for the immediate coming of the day of judgment, but were much relieved when the eclipse was over, that the sun occupied his old place in the heavens, and that nothing terrible had occurred. Speaking of the habits of these earlier days, we know of no better way of closing this chapter than by giving here the statement of one of the old settlers himself : " Times ain't as they used to be," he remarked to a friend of fewer years, while sitting together on a store box in front of one of our stores only a few years ago. It was between sundown and dark ; the weather was pleasant and the pavement crowded with ladies and gentlemen promenading. Evidently the remark was made by the suggestion of what the old gentleman saw transpiring before him ; the younger man feeling some interest in the matter and desirous of drawing his old friend out in the way of a more modern " interview," asked, How was it in earlier times ?" " Quite different. Fifty years ago, Canton had a population of 400 or 500. I suppose there was as much pride then as now, and young people were just as anxious to make a fine appearance ; but the fashions were somewhat different and were not changed so often. Calico was then the prevailing material for ladies fine dresses, such as were worn in making calls, attending religious meetings or evening parties. The more elderly wore bombazet or bombazine. Six yards were amply sufficient for a pattern. An article called homespun wool, of cotton and wool, was usually worn about the house, when engaged in ordinary domestic duties. The bonnets were straw or leghorn, with large crowns and extensive fronts. The style worn by the older women was not much unlike those worn by the Quakers. It was made of black or dark colored silk, with a large crown and points in front. The calash, made of berage and to fold back like a buggy top, was the rage for a long time. There were no milliners in town at that time, but there were those who were handy with the needle, ingenious and tasty, who did the work for those who could not do it themselves. High-top combs were fashionable and the hair was worn in puffs. Little or no jewelry was worn ; a ring or a breast pin was coveted by many, but owned by few. " Fashionable young men wore tight-bodied swallow-tailed coats, with large high collars, buff or white vests, stockinet pants, high-top boots, wrinkled or fair, with a tassel in front, high shirt collars reaching to the ears, and a few wore ruffles. Gold watches were few and far between,, but a bull's eye,' with a metallic fob chain, seal and key was usually sported. The fashions didn't change then as often as they do now. The same bonnet or hat was worn for years. Men wore their hats eight or ten years, and yet, not half worn out, would barter them to the hatter in part pay for a new one of later style. The same bonnet was worn as long, the trimming perhaps changed every two or three years. There were social parties in those days, but there was some regard paid to proper hours for meeting and dispersing. The company assembled at early candle-lighting and went home at reasonable bedtime, and had no ice cream or oyster suppers or lager. The extent of our indulgence was in small beer and gingerbread. The mode of conveyance was mostly on horseback. Every young man aspired to have his own horse, and they were good horsemen in those days. Part of every lady’s outfit was a side-saddle. There were but few vehicles and they were rude compared with those of the present day. Buggies were unknown ; what was called a dearborn '—a body adjusted upon wooden springs—was all I remember seeing, except Dr. Hartford's gig which he brought from the East. There were